VI. Ackers Point, Stewart Island

View from Fishmans Point, Stewart Island  to the Muttonbird/Titi Islands - Motuni, Pukeokaoka, Te Marama and Bunker Islets
View from Fishmans Point, Stewart Island to the Muttonbird/Titi Islands - Motuni, Pukeokaoka, Te Marama and Bunker Islets
Te Marama Island in the Foveaux Strait - seen from Ackers Point on Stewart Island  in late summer morning light when high pressure prevailed.
Te Marama Island in the Foveaux Strait - seen from Ackers Point on Stewart Island in late summer morning light when high pressure prevailed.
The windblown coastal scrub and forest on the north side of  Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
The windblown coastal scrub and forest on the north side of Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
Giant fuscia tree near Ackers Point on Stewart Island
Giant fuscia tree (Kōtukutuku - Fuchsia excorticata) near Ackers Point on Stewart Island
Senicio reinoldi -  (formerly) now more commonly known as Brachyglottis rotundifolia. Note the difference in leaf colour on exposed leaves as opposed to those in the understory in photo above. (Thanks
Senicio reinoldi - (formerly) now more commonly known as Brachyglottis rotundifolia. Note the difference in leaf colour on exposed leaves as opposed to those in the understory in photo above. (Thanks to Peter Tait for identification)
Brachyglottis rotundifolia - a type of senecio -  typical of 'muttonbird scrub' near Ackers Point Stewart Island - formerly Senicio reinoldi -  being in recognition of celebrated botonist, Johan Reinh
Brachyglottis rotundifolia - a type of senecio - typical of 'muttonbird scrub' near Ackers Point Stewart Island - formerly Senicio reinoldi - being in recognition of celebrated botanist, Johan Reinhold Forster (Thanks to Peter Tait at sailsashore.co.nz)
Asplenium flaccidum (Hanging Spleenwort) near Ackers Point. Grows as an epiphyte on trees.
Asplenium flaccidum (Hanging Spleenwort) near Ackers Point. Grows as an epiphyte on trees.
Possibly Tarawera/Button fern - Pellaea rotundifolia
Possibly Tarawera/Button fern - Pellaea rotundifolia - but probably not.
Bidibid - Acaena novae-zelandiae - near Ackers Point on Stewart Island.
Bidibid - Acaena novae-zelandiae - near Ackers Point on Stewart Island.
Chilean Flame Creeper (Tropaeolum speciosum) - a proscribed invasive weed - on the path to Ackers Point, Stewart Island. A climbing perennial that gets into forest canopy blocking out light. It is ext
Chilean Flame Creeper (Tropaeolum speciosum) - a proscribed invasive weed - on the path to Ackers Point, Stewart Island. A climbing perennial that gets into forest canopy blocking out light. It is extemely difficult to kill (see http://weedbusters.co.nz).
Possibly a Lastreopsis Fern - on the path to Ackers Piont, Stewart Island.
Possibly a Lastreopsis Fern - on the path to Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
Hound's Tongue (Microsorum pustulatum)
Hound's Tongue (Microsorum pustulatum)
Probably the spore frond of Blechnum discolor near Ackers Point, Stewart Island (Thanks to Peter Tait for help with identification).
Probably the spore frond of Blechnum discolor near Ackers Point, Stewart Island (Thanks to Peter Tait for help with identification).
Beautiful horizontal patterning on a Kamahi (Weinmannia racemosa) trunk on the Ackers Point path
Beautiful horizontal patterning on a Kamahi (Weinmannia racemosa) trunk on the Ackers Point path
A nice succession of coastal plants - leatherwood/tupare, Knobby Club Rush (Ficinia nodosa) a ribbonwood (possibly Saltmarsh Ribbonwood -  Plagianthus divaricatus) and a hebe.
A nice succession of coastal plants - leatherwood/tupare, Knobby Club Rush (Ficinia nodosa) a ribbonwood (possibly Saltmarsh Ribbonwood - Plagianthus divaricatus) and a hebe (speciosa?).
South Island tomtit (Petroica m. macrocephala) in manuka scrub on way to Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
South Island tomtit (Petroica m. macrocephala) in manuka scrub on way to Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
Tui appearing to dive vertically, Ackers Point path, Stewart Island.
Tui appearing to dive vertically, Ackers Point path, Stewart Island.
Tomtit doing vertical cling-on, Ackers Path, Stewart Island.
Tomtit doing vertical cling-on, Ackers Path, Stewart Island.
Tomtit. South Island tomtit adult female, Stewart Island (Ackers Point).
Tomtit. South Island tomtit adult female, Stewart Island (Ackers Point).
Two Silvereye near Ackers Point.
Two Silvereye near Ackers Point.
Argumentative Fantail on the Ackers Point path, Stewart Island.
Argumentative Fantail on the Ackers Point path, Stewart Island.
Oban in the sunlight seen from Fishman's Point on the way to Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
Oban in the sunlight seen from Fishman's Point on the way to Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
Sculpted grainte rocks at Fishereman Point, Stewart Island.
Sculpted grainte rocks at Fishereman Point, Stewart Island.
White-fronted terns (Sterna striata) at Ackewrs Point. They are New Zealand's commonest tern.
White-fronted terns (Sterna striata) at Ackewrs Point. They are New Zealand's commonest tern.
Bull Kelp - Durvillaea antarctica - at Fishman's Point. It was used by Maori to make sacks to preserve titi/muttonbitds (see my page Sooty Shearwaters and Blue Penguins in 'Stewart Island'. (Thanks to
Bull Kelp - Durvillaea antarctica - at Fishman's Point. It was used by Maori to make sacks to preserve titi/muttonbirds (see my page Sooty Shearwaters and Blue Penguins in 'Stewart Island'. (Thanks to Peter Tait for identification).
Looking across to Bragg Point, Dead Man Beach (around corner) Horseshoe Point and thedistant mountains of the South Island from Ackers Point path, Stewart Island.
Looking across to Bragg Point, Dead Man Beach (around corner) Horseshoe Point and thedistant mountains of the South Island from Ackers Point path, Stewart Island.
Strange russet-coloured fungal growth on a tree trunk on the way to Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
Strange russet-coloured fungal growth on a tree trunk on the way to Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
Tree Fern on the edge of the coastal bush towards Ackers Point, Stewart Island (Probably Wheki-ponga -Dicksonia fibrosa - (Thanks to Peter Tait for identification).
Tree Fern on the edge of the coastal bush towards Ackers Point, Stewart Island. (Probably Wheki-ponga - Dicksonia fibrosa). Thanks to Peter Tait for identification.
Mamuka/Black tree fern - (Cyathea medullaris) - in cleared land being recolonised by Manuka and Gorse and grasses at foot of Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
Mamuka/Black tree fern - (Cyathea medullaris) - in cleared land being recolonised by Manuka and Gorse and grasses at foot of Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
Delicate sediment stains on the beach at Harrold Bay on the way to Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
Delicate sediment stains on the beach at Harrold Bay on the way to Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
More sediment patters in the sand - from zig-zag seaweed clump.
More sediment patters in the sand - from zig-zag seaweed clump.
The community-led initiative to trap out ratsa and possum on Ackers Point and around Oban on Stewart Island.
The community-led initiative to trap out ratsa and possum on Ackers Point and around Oban on Stewart Island. (Click for link to extend this to the whole of Stewart Island.)
Trap marker on the Ackers Point path, Stewart Island.
Trap marker on the Ackers Point path, Stewart Island.
Lewis Ackers, an American whaler, for whom Ackers Point is named. He settled in 1863 with his Maori wife. They later left to farm near Invercargill. Failing to submit a claim for his SI land after the
Lewis Ackers, an American whaler, for whom Ackers Point is named. He settled in 1863 with his Maori wife. They later left to farm near Invercargill. Failing to submit a claim for his SI land after the Crown purchase in 1864 he was dispossessed.
Ackers' stone house from the beach showing the old path down to it and his boat building enterprise. The Ackers raised nine children in the house.
Ackers' stone house from the beach showing the old path down to it and his boat building enterprise. The Ackers raised nine children in the house.
Lewis Ackers and Mary Pi's stone house built in 1863 from granite quarried and shipped by Acker from the New River district on the other side of the Foveaux Strait (see Te Ara Biography).
Lewis Ackers and Mary Pi's stone house built in 1863 from granite quarried and shipped by Acker from the New River district on the other side of the Foveaux Strait (see Te Ara Biography). on Stewart Island.
Poetic detritus peopling the window sill of Lewis Ackers' and his wife, Meri Pi's house on Stewart Island.
Poetic detritus peopling the window sill of Lewis Ackers' and his wife, Mary Pi's house on Stewart Island.
Decaying seaweed on the beach at Harrold Bay, Stewart Island. Probably Bladder Kelp - Macrocystis pyrifera (Thanks to Peter Tait for help identifying this one.) to
Decaying seaweed on the beach at Harrold Bay, Stewart Island. Probably Bladder Kelp/Rimurimu - Macrocystis pyrifera (Thanks to Peter Tait for help identifying this one.)
Kelp holdfast on the beach at Harrolds Bay, Stewart Island.
Kelp holdfast on the beach at Harrolds Bay, Stewart Island.
Harrolds Bay on Ackers Point, site of the first stone house on Stewart Island.
Harrolds Bay on Ackers Point, site of the first stone house on Stewart Island.
Colonial style red tin roofed house at the foot of Ackers Point, Stewart Island.
Colonial style red tin roofed house at the foot of Ackers Point, Stewart Island with invasive European Gorse in the foreground.
Old Stewart Island water taxi and tethered goat, Stewart Island.
Old Stewart Island water taxi and tethered goat, Stewart Island.